Complot – Rouge Reve album review
We could say that we have had our periods
(a little as Picasso, in all modesty)
white, brown, again white and red today…Dream..
”Red Dream” But we are always COMPLOT.
(Nikolai Ada)
When I offered the band a review of this work, their words “CD-book” surprised me very much, but the more I was surprised when I got the release itself. Indeed, what could I expect, knowing that one of the band members (Maurice Chesneau aka Paolo C Uccello) doesn’t play any instrument, but does graphical works, providing this way the alchemy of music and image. So I got a 52 page book with futuristic graphical works and fragments of song lyrics with the CD of “Rouge Reve” inside. Now let’s turn to the music itself. With this album Complot proved once again that they don’t care of being referred to any musical genre, such as art post-punk, progressive coldwave, experimental, art rock or so. Complot is nothing of it and everything altogether at once. The only words this band can be exactly marked with are “Art” and “theater”, especially if not forget their theater performances, such as probably the most famous “Maiakovskiy” and many others. “Rouge Reve” isn’t an exception as well, its music is based on the work the band did for the theatrical performance “Iceman” (2006). Chanson-rock start of “Sans Issue” changes with post-industrial hit “Body is body” and then moves to the most powerful track of the release, “Vision of time”, in which we can see great combination of Ert’s and Nicolai’s vocals. The following “Rocky Dream” with Ert’s main line has a shamanic psycho pattern, and in “Tout ce que je veux…” a listener can notice quite unexpected Psychic TV acid thing. In the next tracks, “Petit soldat” and “La nuit remue” we can see the band’s moving to more eastern musical traditions, which stops somewhere close to China in the eighths track, about which I’d love to tell a bit more. In “Les assis” we can hear the first band’s vocalist, Arnauld le Brusq (the voice on the first Complot Bronswick’s EP “L’image oubliee”), reading Rimbaud’s poem. Arnault, who decided to continue his experiments in literature turned out to be the best person to read this difficult poem. Arnault reads this work, written by passionate young boy, in absolutely unexpected for this poem manner. His “flirting” whispering ironical voice creates the atmosphere that the reciter on one hand is one of those feeble “les assis”, but on the other hand, it’s clearly seen that in this “crypt” he is just a spectator, who clearly understands the reality which Arthur Ribmaud drew in this poem. And the last track of the main part of the release, the tense “happy” “Wake Up” leads a listener out of the “les assis” atmosphere, but still keeping the sense of artistic swindle that the song is not about its words and rhythm are about. After the main part, four mix follows, which reflects other shades of already known “Rouge Reve” songs, “Body is body”, “Sans Issue”, “Petit soldat” and “Tout ce que je veux…”.
Talking about the music in common, this work is very experimental on one hand, and rock-driven on the other. Probably, it would be hard to find there post-punk minimalism and other band’s recognizable features of the 80’s. While many contemporary bands try to sound in the 80’s style, Complot steps to the future, not in order to follow the fashion, but to use the musical abilities which the current century offers. So the sound can be called “modern”, but in contradictory to many bands which lost their “things” running for modern sound, Complot managed to stay Complot.
In conclusion, we have a great work of five great masters who don’t want to be the best in the band, but do their work in the best way they can, without glancing back to any musical borders. And their contribution can be simply recognizable, so, for example, Ert’s experience with “End of Data” and experimental electronic projects can be easily recognized. The “guest-musicians”, the famous Gilles Martin and Pierre Fablet, added to the album their own colors which finally organically fit the entire conception. Actually, I could write as much as my review is about each song of the release, so deep they are, but it’s better to give a chance to a listener to make own opinion. Art is never felt the same way, and Art is always worth.
Pall ‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy
‘Grave Jibes Fanzine’
